Ellington Was Not a Street (utgåvan 2004)

I loved this book -- the rhythm of the language, the little girl protagonist, the introduction to historical figures who were actually real people to the little girl, and now, to the reader. I would have wished for more women! But otherwise it was perfect. ( )

In the art of poetic junction and meter, Ntozake Shange pens a poetic masterpiece that vividly tells the story of the contributions of black men in our 2oth century history. Men like Duke Ellington, W.E.B. Dubois, Paul Robeson to mention a few are beautifully depicted in such subtle but poignant illustrations that they leave a mark and tell the story with detail. The book opens with a street sign 'Ellington' and the poem begins 'it hasn't always been this way, ellington was not a street.' You notice first off that not one of the sentences start with a capital letter and my second grade students would be quick to point that out, but I feel this would be a good point to pass into a segment on types of poetic meter and when not to use syntax for impact. Each page contained two lines and that was all and in those two lines there was so much context. I would love for my students to see this and be able to practice this as well, by writing two lines that rhyme that would depict best some moment in their life. ( )

Author, Ntozake Shange, takes her poem and turns it into a beautiful story that actually is about her father's house and all the famous musicians who came through to visit. My favorite, Kadir Nelson, does the illustrations - which are always beautiful. ( )

This book is one of culture; a book of power and knowledge. Persons of all ages will enjoy reading this book and becoming enlightened on prominent African American figures of the era. It gives different biographies of these people while displayed beautiful imagery to accompany the flowy text of the book. Overall, this book is one of knowledge and people should read it to understand more behind the culture of African Americans. ( )

A poem about the men who have changed history for African Americans. Ellington was not a street shows that once these great men were just mere company and didn't amount to anything. These great men made this street famous and now their legacy lives on. ( )